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| | The Nation Together With California Takes On The Opioid Addiction Problem With Injured Workers. By Lonce LaMon - April 11, 2017
“Since 2012, DIR has made significant strides in its quest to eliminate medical provider fraud and illegitimate liens, and is continuing its efforts to launch a prescription drug formulary.” California Department of Industrial Relations Director, Christine Baker, stated in a department news release just on Wednesday, April 5th.
Now New York, as stated in its final version of its 2017-2018 budget which passed its Senate just on Sunday, requires a workers’ compensation formulary for prescription drugs.
Because the American injured worker has become in recent years the prominent victim of opioid addiction, numerous states are waking up to the problem and taking steps through their workers’ compensation systems.
Under new rules issued in Ohio, by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, payments for opioid prescriptions can be denied if assessed that physicians are overprescribing or failing to follow
A drug formulary is a list of prescription drugs, both generic and brand name, used by practitioners to identify drugs that offer the greatest overall value. A committee of physicians, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists maintain the formulary.
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“best practices” in treating injured workers. The rules allow the bureau to provide treatment for opioid dependence to workers hooked on painkillers after being injured on the job.
One worker in Boston, as described in SF Gate publication this Monday, April 10th, said, “I was eating them up like they were candy,” when expressing how he was taking the prescribed opioids he was on for years after hurting his neck and fracturing his vertebrae from being thrown by a moving truck while on the job. Jimmy Duran was a commercial mover.
Duran wound up unable to work and desperate to feed his habit. He then made the mistake of dealing cocaine to make money. He wound up in jail for two years. Now he is free of addiction and works as a licensed counselor at a substance use prevention and treatment center.
The vice president for the Washington-based American Insurance Association, Alison Cooper, applauded the New York budget and said drug formularies are a proven way to reduce workers’ compensation costs while ensuring workers receive the needed care.
“In particular, a formulary can help address the problem of opioid use and abuse, which unfortunately remains one of the most pressing issues facing workers’ compensation systems nationwide, including in New York,” she expressed in a statement.
lonce@adjustercom.com
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